'No pothole is safe': Big yellow hero rolls out across Lincolnshire roads
No pothole is safe in Lincolnshire thanks to a big yellow beast of a machine that is patching, planing, and smoothing our streets as part of a year-long trial.
The JCB Pothole Pro is on a mission fixing anything from tiny cracks to long stretches damaged by drought.
Highways officers are keeping a close eye, feeding back data on productivity and performance, while drivers are quietly cheering every stretch of road that’s made a little easier to navigate. So far, the figures are impressive, and the machine is proving its worth on everything from busy town streets to quiet rural lanes.
In particular, the Pothole Pro has been tackling reactive patching, which focuses on damaged areas measuring between 5m² and 30m². As part of the trial, Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) Highways is compiling data on exactly how the machine performs to help decide whether it should become a permanent fixture on the county’s roads.
Early numbers show the Pothole Pro has been busy indeed. In September, it completed 2,505m² over 19 working days, averaging 132m² a day. In October, it tackled 1,404m² over 20 working days, averaging 70m² daily.
Jonathan Evans, Head of Highways Client, explained that the machine performs best when patch sizes are large or multiple issues appear in the same area. “Because this work is reactive, the machine sometimes has to travel between sites, which can affect productivity,” he said.
It isn’t just potholes the machine has been busy with. Drought-damaged roads, which have suffered long cracks and surface displacement, have also been treated. The Pothole Pro’s planing head can be angled horizontally to cut a precise key into the road surface. Once filled in by a surfacing crew, the repairs are neat, effective, and long-lasting — a far cry from temporary quick fixes.
Over just three weeks in October, the Pothole Pro covered a remarkable list of locations, including Green Street, Great Gonerby; Arnold Avenue, Grantham; Chestnut Avenue, Cranwell; Blyborough Hill; Church Street, Willoughton; Macaulay Drive, Lincoln; Newark Road, North Rauceby; the A17 Sleaford Bypass; and dozens of other rural and urban stretches. From Boston to Holbeach, Tydd St Mary to Sutton St Edmund, the machine has certainly been putting in the miles.
Lincolnshire County Council leader Coun Sean Matthews said the trial is exactly what it was designed for. He said: “It’s about putting the JCB Pothole Pro on the roads in a meaningful way so that our Highways officers can see if it meets the needs of Lincolnshire’s network.
"The data we gather will decide whether it stays.”
He added: “I’m really pleased to see it being tested across such a variety of issues already. The first months have shown it’s being put through its paces, and I’m looking forward to seeing the trial continue and what the results will show.”
For Lincolnshire drivers, the message is clear: the big yellow machine is hard at work behind the scenes, turning pothole chaos into smoother journeys — one patch at a time.
And for those who travel Lincolnshire’s streets every day, that’s something to celebrate.